150 THE WILD HORSE. 



must be decided. The Russian dominions extend 

 over the most level part only : four chains, at least, 

 of enormous mountains, whose direction is even in 

 a measure unknown, occur within the great basin of 

 the Thianchan, the Little Altai, the Himalaya moun- 

 tains, and Hindukoh ; and upon them there are table 

 lands of more than 1 6,000 feet in elevation, not as 

 yet traversed by a European foot, though known to 

 be stocked with wild horses and other animals. Be- 

 ginning from the chain, east of Budukshaun more 

 than forty degrees of longitude, by from five to 

 twenty of latitude, stretch north-eastward along the 

 nomad haunts of the Kalmuks, Eleuths, Mongols, 

 and Kalkas, consisting mostly of the sandy wastes 

 of Gobi or Shamor, and to the west of these are the 

 deserts of the Sea of Aral, the Karakoum, and 

 wildernesses of the Kirguise. * Over the whole 

 extent of this almost boundless surface, several 

 species of Equidae are noticed, and shall we as- 

 sume that these also are feral descendants of stray 

 animals at the siege of Azof, though neither Forster 

 nor Pallas advanced such an opinion ? Surely no : 

 nor can we deny that in the south-eastern mountain 

 frontier of Russia, upon the inclined plains resting 



* From longitude 73° to 1 13° east, and in latitude from 30" 

 to 50° north. 



See Danville's map of China in Du Halde, drawn up from 

 the Jesuit memoirs ; still the best and almost the only docu- 

 ments for the greater part of the region in question. By late 

 British travellers, who with almost super-human perseverance 

 have penetrated into parts of the western extremity of Cen- 

 tral Asia, our doubts are supported, as will be shown passim. 



